Hashtags

Hashtag Basics

• Word or short phrase prefixed by the pound (#) sign• Aggregate, track, and identify content across social media

platforms• Not just promotional tools, more like a search filter• Used to carry on a conversation with multiple people, not just

for fun• Can help distinguish you, your company, or your community

from competitors• Allow people who don’t follow you to see what you’re saying• Most popular will start ‘trending’ for you to see and join in on

Examples• #NavyYardShooting

– Send any information regarding shooter directly to Navy– Updates on President Obama’s reaction & response– Shared with every newspaper & article written about it– Public reactions (most common for all hashtags)

• #PrayForBoston– Updates on injured and deceased from Boston officials– Links for ways to help the victims– Information on candlelight & other remembrance services

• #RoyalBabyWatch– Continuous guessing and polls about what the baby’s name would be– Pictures and videos of royal couples every move– Source of congratulations and celebration

Hashtags vs. Phrases

• Hashtags are better because they automatically group your post with others who used the same hashtag

• Example:– If I tweeted ‘Woo! Excited for New York!’ that could have various

meanings• Am I going on vacation there? Moving? School? Did the Jets win? The Giants?

– But what if I tweeted ‘Woo! Excited for New York!’ followed by the hashtag #MissAmerica• This time it is clear I am referring to Miss New York winning the Miss America

pageant

• Hashtags will give you a wide range on information on a topic, not just the general facts– If you want those, just search Google

Dominating Your Niche

• Hashtags let you join a conversation instantly and address the audience directly no matter where they are in the world– @ someone specific with the hashtag to spark a separate discussion

• Make sure hashtag tweets are relevant and engaging– If you make an effort to be heard, you will gain exposure beyond your

followers list– If you just add to the white noise, you will continue to be ignored

• Establish yourself as an expert of a ‘business-relevant’ (niche) hashtag– Showing off your knowledge will get audience to start recognizing you

and waiting to see what you have to say on a topic

Examples• #AZshortsales

– Add to any tip, advice, news, updates, and success stories you have to share about short sales in Arizona

– Groups all your work together into an easy accessible collection– The more you use it, the more it will showcase you as an expert– Creates exposure and opportunity for you and your business

• #StagingTips– Add with any picture, video, or tip about how to successfully stage a

home– Shows you are expert, but also here to help– Makes you a go-to for design/staging tips

• Value is not in whether audience understands why you used the hashtag, but that it helped you group and brand yourself I their eyes

Hashtag Search• search.twitter.com

– Will give you the latest chatter about topics interesting to you

• hashtags.org– Follow @hashtags to get your hashtags tracked by this site– Search hashtags and their trending popularity

• Search #business, and it will show times of day/days of week that it is most popular• Also shows latest tweets including that hashtag

– Lists topics and related hashtags (help you get more specific)• #business leads to #consumer #networking and #marketing

• WhatTheTrend.com– Gives insight on the top used hashtags and why they are trending– Can narrow search down from worldwide to countries to cities– Current trending topics, most active trends of the day, trends marked

as spam, most popular trends in last 30 days

Hashtag Search• twubs.com

– Twitter users form groups around popular hashtags– Only site that groups hashtags into categories (books, movies, etc.)

• tagdef.com– ‘Top Today’, ‘Top This Week’, ‘All Time High’– Shows user definitions of hashtags and latest tweets using them

• trendsmap.com– Latest trends and hashtags used around the world– Shows local and global popularity

• tagboard.com– Shows entire conversation across social media platforms– Google+, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Vine, Pinterest, etc.– Ultimate hashtag hub

Hashtag Communities• Online communities let people across the world who share a

strong common interest connect anytime and anywhere– More convenient than real world

• Types of Communities:– Community of Place– Community of Practice– Community of Interest– Community of Action– Community of Circumstance

• Choose community type before you launch (can overlap)– Helps position and distinguish you from already existing similar sites

Hashtag Communities

Creating Your Own Hashtags

Repetition

Hashtag Don’t’s

• DON’T overload a post with hashtags– Too many looks cluttered and people will pass over your content and

look at someone else’s– Limit yourself to maximum of 3-4 for each post– Example:

• If you’re tweeting about the music performers at State Fair, use #AZstatefair #AZconcerts and maybe #(the artist’s name)

• DON’T include #summer #music #stage #food #fun #crowd etc.

• DON’T use hashtags just to use hashtags– Relevance is key– You are trying to target a specific audience– Remember the point is to group and carry on conversations

Recap